If your child is struggling with suicidal thoughts, you don’t have to face it alone. SAFES is here to help.
The SAFES (Supporting Adolescents and Families Experiencing Suicidality) program connects your child with expert and experienced care. Across 4 free sessions, a partnered therapist from Seattle Children’s or Frontier Behavioral Health will help your child work through their suicidal thoughts.
Ask your child’s primary care physician or behavioral health clinician for a referral to SAFES.
Who is Eligible for the SAFES Program?
SAFES is available to children ages 10-18 living in Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, or Stevens counties.
Is This Program for Emergency Assistance?
- SAFES is for children experiencing suicidal thoughts, planning to harm themselves, or who have previously attempted suicide.
- For help with a mental health crisis, please call the 988 Suicide Crisis Hotline.
- For emergencies and imminent danger, please call 911.
Does This Replace My Child's Existing Mental Health Care?
This program is primarily for children who are not currently seeing a mental health professional. However, children can be referred by a current mental health professional if additional support is needed.
Does SAFES Require Insurance?
Insurance is not required to enter the SAFES program.
Does SAFES Cost Money? Do I Have to Pay to Participate?
- SAFES is free to referred children.
- It covers up to 4 free 90-minute sessions with a mental health professional.
What Happens After I Talk With My Child's Doctor?
Your child’s primary doctor will assess your child and determine their needs. After a consultation between SAFES and your child’s provider determines your child is eligible for services, a Frontier Behavioral Health representative will reach out to schedule your initial 90-minute appointment within a week.
How Will This Program Help My Family?
The mental health professionals will work with you and your child to:
- Assess current concerns
- Create plans to stay safe
- Assess the best treatment options
- Build communication skills to talk about the child’s mental health needs
- Collaborate with your child’s current therapist if they have one
- Provide support to your family in returning to normal as the crisis passes
What Happens After the Sessions Are Completed?
You will be provided with case management to help connect you with ongoing outpatient mental health care.
About the Program
The SAFES program is based on the Crisis Care Clinic model developed at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The Partnership Access Line (PAL) collaborates with Frontier Behavioral Health (FBH) to provide a combination of in-person and telehealth crisis support services for both the patient and their caregiver.
Primary care providers and behavioral health clinicians embedded in primary care offices with patients who live in an eligible county in Washington state and meet other criteria can call PAL to discuss their patient with a Seattle Children’s or University of Washington child and adolescent psychiatrist.
